Jill Lynn - Her Texas Family

“So, Graham.” Olivia turned to him. “It’s actually perfect that you picked up my sister. I wanted the two of you to meet.”

A cold sweat snaked under his collar. Was Olivia trying to set him up with her flighty sister? Not going to happen. Graham had already had the love of his life. Now he had Mattie and absolutely no desire to remarry. Olivia would just have to take her matchmaking ideas elsewhere.

“Lulu, Graham’s office manager is out on maternity leave and he needs someone to fill in.”

What?

He hadn’t expected that. And this conversation sounded like trouble. Yes, the woman who ran Graham’s front office had gone on maternity leave unexpectedly early last week, leaving him completely strapped, but that didn’t mean Lucy Grayson was the right person for the position.

“I think it would be a perfect start for you, Lulu.” Olivia gave Graham a look he couldn’t quite decipher. Did she expect him to offer Lucy a job right here and now? Bend down on one knee and start begging?

Lucy studied him long enough to make him squirm, determination sparking in her eyes. “I do have a business degree. I don’t have experience in a medical office, but I could learn.”

How was he going to get out of this? Graham wanted someone for the position who could walk right in and know what they were doing. Someone with experience. Exactly the type of person he’d been looking for since well before Hollie went into early labor. Unfortunately, after three different temps had filled in last week, Graham was beginning to think that person didn’t exist.

Olivia was still talking about the possibility of Lucy working for him, how it would be a great fit, how it would be beneficial for both of them.

Graham could only stare. He felt as though he was sliding down a treacherous slope with little chance of rescue.

“Sorry, Red.” Cash looked far too amused and not nearly concerned enough. “I don’t think there’s any saving you from this one.”

“Seriously? You’re just going to leave me hanging? I am never prescribing anything for you ever again.”

Cash laughed. “I can’t imagine anyone going up against Liv and coming away with a win. Trust me, I know from experience.” His gaze slid to his wife, filled with enough admiration that a twinge of jealousy came over Graham.

Graham remembered that look, that feeling, well. He’d give anything to look at his wife like that again. But those days were gone, and he was healing. He was moving on. Just not into another relationship.

Unfortunately, at the moment, his friend was right. By the look on Olivia’s face, she was going to win this battle. Graham wanted to run for the door. Either that or rewind the evening and not stop at the sight of a stranded yellow Beetle.

“What do you think? Should we give it a try?” Lucy looked so hopeful that something in him tugged. She couldn’t be worse than the temps, could she? Maybe he was overreacting about the fact that he’d found her up a tree on the side of the road. Perhaps they could help each other out.

She’d have to be trained, but he’d figure out that part. Besides, it wasn’t as if he had any other choices lined up.

Graham would usually pray about a decision like this. Take his time. Wait on God’s guidance. But he was desperate. Desperate enough to hire a woman who looked like a model, smelled like sunshine and didn’t have a lick of experience.

Her words came back to him. A try, she’d said.

The tension in his body untangled. That was what he would do. He’d hire her on a trial basis. That way, when she couldn’t do the job, he’d have no issue letting her go.

Chapter Two

On Tuesday morning, Lucy sat behind a wide receptionist desk in Graham’s medical office and stared at the blinking black beast in front of her. Some might call it a phone. Lucy deemed it an instrument of torture. It boasted a number on the small gray screen—one that kept growing as the number of people waiting for her to answer increased. When Graham’s nurse, Danielle, had trained Lucy on it early this morning, she’d called it the queue. Lucy didn’t have such a nice name for it.

It scared her more than spiders or spam.

On Sunday night, she and Graham had hammered out a few details. An agreement of sorts. They’d agreed to give working together a try. He’d put a lot of emphasis on that last word, and Lucy felt an underlying sense of tension that normally didn’t invade her life. Graham probably thought she was completely unqualified for the position. And he’d be right. Which meant she needed to prove herself today.

She knew her opportunity to work for Graham had everything to do with God and Olivia making it happen and very little to do with her office skills—which were nonexistent.

On Monday, when Lucy had moved into her above-garage apartment in town—the one her sister had lived in last year—she’d scanned the paper for any other job openings she might be qualified for, just in case working for Graham didn’t pan out.

There weren’t any.

Since her move to Texas had come up quickly, Lucy hadn’t had time to save. She didn’t have any reserves for covering an extended period of time without work. And since she absolutely refused to ask her parents or Olivia and Cash for money, she needed this job.

How hard could it be? she’d thought. Answer a phone. File some charts. But after a few of the calls she’d already fielded this morning, Lucy was afraid to touch the flashing beast in front of her. Since timidity wasn’t in her nature, she took a steadying breath and yanked the receiver up, pressing it to her ear.

“Dr. Redmond’s office. May I help you?”

“This is Walt Birl. Who’s this?”

Another favorite question of the morning. Who was she? What was she doing in town? And from two grandmothers—was she interested in meeting their grandsons?

“Lucy Grayson. I’m new to town. I’m running from some unsolved crimes in Colorado. What can I do for you, Mr. Birl?”

Stunned silence.

Lucy winced and looked at the phone as though she could see his reaction through the small black holes. Oops. Perhaps not her best move. Wasn’t she planning to be professional today? Prove to Graham he hadn’t made a mistake in hiring her?

When she put the phone back to her ear, loud cackling greeted her. “I like you. Listen, I have a rash I need to discuss with someone.”

Don’t pick me. Don’t pick me.

“It’s kind of round, though there’s a few spots—”

“Mr. Birl, you really need to speak with the nurse or schedule an appointment with Dr. Redmond. I’ll be no help at all.”

“Okay. Transfer me to Danielle, then.”

Lucy sighed with relief, then pressed a few buttons on the phone, hoping the call actually went to Danielle’s phone and voice mail in the back.

She dived into the waiting queue. It took her almost two hours to wade through the calls, partially since everyone had to get the lowdown on her before talking medical business. Finally, the screen didn’t show anyone on hold. Lucy did a happy dance, chair sliding back and forth with her movements.

“What are you doing?”

She screeched. Graham had come down the hall during her happy dance...with a patient. Thankfully the frazzled mom with a toddler on her hip simply waved and walked out the front doors.

Lucy motioned to the phone. “Just celebrating getting through the phone calls.”

“Oh.” Graham sported the same look of confusion he’d been wearing when he’d stopped to help with her flat tire. “Okay.” He shrugged and disappeared down the hall again. Even slightly snarly, the man still managed to look good. He also had impeccable taste in clothes. A crisp white button-down shirt and black dress pants. A tie that teased some of the lighter flecks of green from his eyes. He reminded Lucy of an actor on a television show she used to watch. Definitely Hollywood for this small town.

Digging into her purse, Lucy plucked out her phone and texted her sister.

What are you doing?

When it beeped a response, Lucy gave a silent cheer. Liv almost never responded to texts during the day because she was normally in the middle of teaching one of her French classes at the high school.

Between classes. How’s the first day?

How to answer that?

Exciting.

Lol. Yeah, rt. R u still at work? Have u caused any trouble?

Lucy’s lips curved. Her sister knew her too well.

Yes and no.

Though Lucy had simply meant to answer Liv’s questions in order, the humor in it made her perk up. Let her sister wonder a bit at that.

Lucy?!!!??

She laughed and slid the phone back into her purse. It took her a few minutes to figure out how to print the updated appointment schedule so she could pull the patient charts for the rest of the day. Once she did, Lucy did a pirouette on her way to pick up the sheet from the printer located in the far left corner of the reception space. Now that the phone calls had slowed, she was doing okay. Maybe she’d get the hang of this job faster than she’d expected.

Graham walked into the reception space and dropped some charts on top of the pile on her desk that needed to be reshelved, then turned and scanned the files.

“Just grabbing my next appointment. I’m sure you haven’t had time to pull anything with handling the phones this morning.”

“Thanks.” That was nice. Maybe the man didn’t just speak in grunts all the time. Actually, she knew he didn’t. She’d heard him being great with the patients. And she’d seen him interact with Mattie the other night. Graham looked at his daughter as if she made the sun rise and set each day. From what Lucy had gathered in the short time they’d been together on Sunday, she agreed with that assessment. Mattie was supercute with her red glasses, glossy hair and bright, inquisitive green eyes that seemed to quietly observe everything around her.

Seeing Graham act so sweet with Mattie had melted Lucy a bit.

But he certainly hadn’t sprinkled any of that sugar in her direction. With Lucy, he kept a polite distance and only spoke caveman.

She considered the way Graham obviously adored Mattie to be his best quality. Second best? His choice in cologne.

Inhaling, she inched closer to his back as he faced the charts. Woodsy. Spicy. Definitely worth a second sniff. She leaned in just a bit more.

Graham grabbed a chart and turned, almost bumping into her. Lucy jumped back, not realizing how close she’d migrated in her efforts to breathe him in.

He stared at her, those dark, stormy eyes wide.

“Sorry.” She took a step back. “I—” Want to smell you? Nope. Not first-day-on-the-job words.

Graham’s brow furrowed. “You okay?”

“I’m great.” You just smell distractingly good. What kind of cologne is that? Would it be weird if I requested you wear it every day? Would it be even worse if I grabbed your perfectly knotted grass-green tie, tugged you forward and buried my nose along the collar of your shirt?

Graham made his way past her, pausing by the edge of the desk. “We’ll turn off the phones for lunch. I need to grab Mattie from school. She has a half day today. But Danielle can answer any questions you have after you’re done eating.”

“Sounds good.” Lucy pasted on a bright smile and waited until Graham disappeared down the hall before letting it fall from her face. Phew. That had been a close one.

She searched the shelves filled with rows and rows of manila folders reaching up to the ceiling behind her desk and along the wall. Looked as though the chart she needed was on the top row. She glanced around. Not a stool or chair to be found besides the rolling one behind her desk. At five and a half feet, Lucy wasn’t necessarily short—unless she compared herself with her sister or father—but she was pretty sure she needed some assistance to reach the top row.